Luke Littler has reached the fourth round of the World Darts Championship after overcoming another tough test to defeat Ian White 4-1 at Alexandra Palace.
The pre-tournament favorite fought hard in the opening set, but lost the second set to White, who missed darts to win three of the first four sets and threaten a famous upset against the fourth seed.
Littler swept the third set in just 39 darts and punished a missed set dart from White to finish fourth with a 70 checkout, then broke White in the next set before securing victory with a 14-darter. .
Littler posted a 97.84 average and 12 maximums against White, with the 17-year-old avoiding a repeat of the emotions he saw in his second-round win against Ryan Meikle and booking a last-16 clash with Ryan Joyce on Monday.
Michael van Gerwen also secured his place in the fourth round as he came back from a set down to beat Brendan Dolan 4–2, with Chris Dobbe also beating Josh Rock by the same margin.
How did Little White pass the test?
Littler started with a 20-dart hold, but fell behind when White took advantage of five missed darts on the double to break him, only for ‘Diamond’ to miss a set dart on top, before Littler won in the final. Opener snatched with 12-darter – leg decider.
Luke Littler converted only 13 of 37 double chances against White
The pair exchanged several breaks of throw in another tough second, where Littler produced a 114 checkout, before White took the next leg against the darts to equalise, but the pace was Littler’s way in the third. Came back.
Littler completed an impressive third set by pinning the bullseye for 88 checkouts after 13 and 14-dart legs, ‘Nuke’ took advantage of another missed set dart from White in the closing stages of the fourth to find a 70 checkout and open. Did. A two set buffer.
The teenager continued to miss doubles in the fifth set, boosting White’s hopes of taking the contest further, then he threatened to seal the win with a ‘Big Fish’ before breaking his opponent with a 25-point finish.
“It was tough,” Littler said. Sky Sports. “Ian threw everything at me. If I shot 180, he would counter with 180, so I had to be switched on. It was just a case of serving quickly. The first set was fine. But the first break After I’m really ready for it.
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Luke Littler comments on his struggle to complete a double 10 and double 20 in his match against Ian White.
“I don’t think D10 liked me tonight and I didn’t like them! I was thinking about switching to D18 or D16, but I stuck to the doubles I know and D10 got me home Gave.”
MVG sends Dolan off as Doobie moves on
Van Gerwen appeared on course to take the opening set when he claimed a break of throws in the third leg, only for Dolan to fire back-to-back 15-darters – including an 86 finish on the bullseye – to seal a shock To gain an edge.
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Michael van Gerwen produced a vintage performance by hitting a 129 checkout to break Brendan Dolan and win the second set.
Despite missing seven darts in the doubles, the Dutchman had a poor 21-dart leg – but completed the second in emphatic fashion in the next leg, firing a 129 checkout for a 12-dart break, before he immediately took on the competition. Took control. ,
Van Gerwen won eight consecutive sets – including a brilliant 149 checkout at the start of the fourth – to win the next two sets in straight legs, only for Dolan to take advantage of superb finishing from the three-time world champion and claim a set. . Back in fifth.
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Van Gerwen checkouts 149 in early third set against Dolan
Dolan produced a brilliant 123 checkout on the bullseye and missed a dart in the next leg to take the contest to a final set decider, as Van Gerwen managed to catch the throw and secure his place in the next round.
“It was really tough, really tough game,” Van Gerwen told sky sports“I tried to punish him at the right time and I wasn’t able to do it. I can only blame myself for that. I’m very happy that D8 went in at the end.”
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Van Gerwen said he has had a tough year and still has a lot of work to do
The opening match of the evening was also a tightly contested affair, with Dobbie coming from 2-1 down to win 4-2 on the Rock and book a last-16 clash against Kevin Doets or Krzysztof Ratajski.
Dobbe responded to losing the third set by serving straight through the legs in the fourth set, and Rock survived a dart miss in the fifth set to take the lead in the final stage decider, before a spectacular double-double finish on 19 and 96 checkouts. Signed with victory. ,
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Chris Dobey came back to win with a double-double finish after Josh Rock put the pressure on by scoring 180 in the third round.
Afternoon round-up: Aspinall reach last-16
nathan aspinall He reached the last 16 for the first time in five years by defeating Andrew Gilding in straight sets, setting up his match. Riccardo Pietrezco On Monday.
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During Nathan Aspinall’s match with Andrew Gilding, Asp became slightly distracted by the Alexandra Palace crowd as he stopped playing briefly to watch the antics at Ally Pally.
Aspinall broke Gilding twice in the opening set and won the next two sets through final stage deciders, before completing an impressive win – where she averaged 92.17 and was clinical in the doubles – 14-To remove the top and break it for the dart.
“I’m glad I was able to get it done,” Aspinall said. sky sports“Usually I’m really bad at finishing, so usually I lose. Usually my scoring doesn’t happen. The last two games I’ve played, I’ve played really well, not scored well. Is.”
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Nathan Aspinall blew the roof off Alexandra Palace as his walk-on brought the crowd to their feet ahead of his match against Andrew Gilding at the World Darts Championship 2025.
Pietrzko continued his impressive World Championship run by overcoming last year’s semi-finalist Scott Williams, winning both first sets and racing straight into the legs in the fourth set before finishing with a spectacular 121 checkout on the bullseye to win 4–1.
The second match of the season went to a deciding set, with Joyce squandering a two-set lead against Ryan Searle before advancing to the fourth round for the first time since 2019.
“It was a really tough match,” Joyce said. sky sports“In the end I tried everything to succeed and I’m very happy that I managed to find something in the tank in that last set.”
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Ryan Joyce fought off Ryan Searle’s comeback and won 4–3 to reach the fourth round. Joyce also posted an impressive 113 checkout and there was one hiccup from Searle as he missed a single 20 to give up top spot in the final set.
What’s going to happen next?
The third round concludes on Sunday, with Dimitri van den Bergh playing against Callan Ridge in the afternoon session, followed at 12.30pm by Kevin Doets facing Krzysztof Ratajski and Jeffrey De Graaf facing Paolo Nebrida.
Ricky Evans takes on Robert Owen to kick off the evening session at 7pm, the final last-32 match of the tournament, before an all-Welsh fourth round clash between Jonny Clayton and former world champion Gerwyn Price later in the evening. Starts with competition.
Defending champion Luke Humphries faces the two-time world champion in the final match of the night, with the remaining six fourth-round matches to be played on Monday before the quarter-finals – across two sessions – on New Year’s Day.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match live exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel until 3 January. Stream darts and more top games with NOW,
